Estonian government to reopen ferry disaster inquiry

The Estonian government has said it wants the international inquiry into the sinking of the Estonia ferry in September 1994 reopened.

The inquiry into the accident, which claimed the lives of 852 people, submitted its findings seven years ago. But two weeks ago an Estonian government committee presented a report which raised a series of doubts about the official conclusions.

There were several failings in the investigation, said the committee. The bottom of the ship's hull was never examined or filmed in its entirety, interviews with survivors were flawed and a number of issues around the diving work on the wreck were unclear.

Estonia's justice minister Rein Lang said he now hoped that Sweden and Finland would give their assent to the reopening of the inquiry.

502 Swedes perished when the ship capsized off the Finnish coast on its overnight voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm. Only 137 people survived.